"Among the first settlers were all kinds of craftsmen, merchants, artists,
scientists and persons of distinction...Only a few of the settlers were farmers
and they had to teach all the others. Most of the people were poor, having
absolutely nothing. But there were a few that had quite a bit and others
received inheritances later on.
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A continuation of the article, from "Return to Berry Meadow"
by Richard Scheuerman:
"Evidently our Yagodnaya Polyana kin traveled with
the first group of settlers via the direct route via Novgorod, Tver, Moscow,
Ryasan and Pensa to the county seat Petrovsk, named after Peter the Great, where
they spent the winter. Yet, this does not mean that they stayed in Petrovsk
proper; they could have spent the winter in any of the above mentioned
villages. In fact, one can assume that they stayed in one of the villages
farther north since they arrived here in Yagodnaya Polyana only on August 28,
1767. (The arrival date has been listed elsewhere are Sept. 3 and Sept. 16,
1767.) Petrovsk is situated only forty versts north of here. Also traveling at
that time was very slow, step by step, or pace by pace. They should have been
able to make the trip in one day.
"There is a good, wide road from Moscow to Pensa, Petrovsk and on to Saratov. Upon leaving Petrovsk, once they reached the village of Ozerki on this particular route, which is only seven versts (one verst = .6629 of a mile) from here, they should have arrived within three to four hours. Most likely the virgin forest here was an insurmountable obstacle. Therefore, they had to continue on a road leading south until they reached the treeless steppes covered with grass, where they had to turn north to get here. There were roads leading in this direction. Following the main road, they arrived approximately two to three versts south of here in a beautiful, wide canyon, surrounded by forest, where there was also a well-traveled road. They rested at one of the springs in this canyon. Although the spring water was fresh and clear, they did not consider staying here. The group consisted of eighty families and they feared the spring would not supply enough water for all of them. Therefore, they decided to look for a better and larger water source and a better place, if one could be found. Some of the brave men, armed with weapons, went north exploring. After they had walked two or three verst, they heard roaring water, like a huge waterfall, in another, almost impenetrable canyon. The men worked their way through the wilderness overcame numerous obstacles, until they reached their goal. It was no small matter to undertake this venture as wild animals or robbers could have attacked them. However, their anxieties disappeared when they discovered this huge spring and many smaller ones around it. They decided to establish their colony on this ground."
The name Yagodnaya Polyana is derived from the noun yagada meaning
"berry." Many wild berries grew on the site.
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